Institutional beds are mounted on casters so that attendants can move the bed readily both to service the bedroom and also to move the beds from room to room. The beds are quite bulky and it is not uncommon when placing the bed with the head adjacent the wall that the attendant pushes the bed too close to the wall resulting in impact and possible damage to the wall. Because the beds are metal and quite angular, the impact can cause structural damage to plaster walls, particularly when the impact takes place midway between studs supporting the plaster wall. The wall can become severely damaged over a period of time and major overhaul then becomes necessary.
One of the difficulties has been that the point of impact of the bed is quite high on the wall but varies as the bed is raised and lowered. Also, some elevating mechanisms used on such beds cause the upper platform to move longitudinally as it is elevated. Consequently, it is necessary to maintain space between this platform and the wall so that the platform is not driven into the wall when the bed is elevated.